Items are entered into {{IMSMANG}} by means of a Data Entry Form. Typically, each category of items has its own Data Entry Form template for recording information specific to that category. When entered into {{IMSMANG}}, all Data Entry Form items must be assigned to a Location, which is tied to the country’s gazetteer, or political or administrative structure. The items can then be traced back to the Country Structure so that users can easily report data such as the number and size of hazardous areas within a particular province.
Additionally, information managers can customise the categories so that unused categories can be inactivated and other categories added. The same is true for all top-level items within {{IMSMANG}}, which lets information managers specify their exact information model, including the relationships among item categories, and adjust the model as their needs change over time. To accurately map the information model for a Mine Action Programme, it’s helpful to evaluate the available item categories and determine if changes to the information model in {{IMSMANG}} are required. While these values can be customised after system setup, understanding the types of information for each item is critical to implementing an effective workflow in {{IMSMANG}}.
{{note|<b>Document the following decisions about items:</b>
* data to be collected and managed in {{IMSMANG}}
* data fields that are not predefined in {{IMSMANG}} and should be created as CDFs
Data Entry Form #3 updates the land area's size and status after clearance operations are complete. The figure above shows how the land area's Summary is updated after all three reports are entered into the system.
{{Warning| A Data Entry Form that is changing existing information must have a Date of information that is later than the Data Entry Form that it is updating the calculation of the Summary item(s) are based on Date of Information. When the date is earlier or the same, no change of the Summary item occur.}}.}}
===Location ===__NOEDITSECTION__
*all data must be assigned to a Location
*all Locations must be linked to the Country Structure
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Using Locations to Link Mine Action Data to the Country Structure.png|center|''Using Locations to Link Mine Action Data to the Country Structure'']]
''Using Locations to Link Mine Action Data to the Country Structure''
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{{note|<b>Document the following decisions about Locations:</b>
* what concept Locations will represent
* what Country Structure level Locations will be linked to
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===Assigning and Linking===__NOEDITSECTION__
The result is one Land whose information is updated over time by the three Activities linked to the land. This way to track information can be used to represent the information management process and status rules accurately for a Land Release, Risk management or other process model.
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Example of How Current View Statuses Change.png|center|500px|''Example of How Summary Statuses Change'']]
''Example of How Summary Statuses Change''
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The {{IMSMANG}} information model is flexible enough for each Mine Action Programme to customise the system to support its needs. For example, implementations that do not cover Education activities do not need to complete information about Education activities, and they still retain full utility of the system. Similarly, implementations that only cover Victim tracking and Education activities only can disregard Land and Activities without any loss of utility.
Although any item can be linked to any other item, not all relationships necessarily make sense for every implementation. The diagrams below describe some of the more common logical relationships among items and can serve as the basis for an information model when implementing {{IMSMANG}}.
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Example Relationships Among Items.png|center|550px|''Example Relationships Among Items'']]
''Note: Connections to Country Structure and Location have been omitted from the example''
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The rationale for each relationship or link should also be documented so the meaning is understood. These relationships are used when entering data to ensure that the links between items are available for searching and reporting, like when searching for all Land that have Accidents linked to them.
{{note|<b>Document the following business rules about assigning and linking:</b>
* which items will have links between them, for example, Victims should always be linked to Accidents
* rationale or logical meaning of the relationships between items, for example, a link between a Clearance and an Accident means that the Accident happened during the Clearance
* what effects linking has on the items, for example, a link between a Clearance and Land may indicate that the land status should change from ''Open'' to ''Worked on''
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===The Workbench===__NOEDITSECTION__
Until a Data Entry Form is approved, it exists only in the Workbench and does not update any Summary items. The report can still be modified or deleted. The Approval will trigger an update of an existing item (Summary) or creating of a new item depending of chosen Action. If the Summary item has geospatial data, it may be visible in the Map Pane.